Page 344 - Bible History

PREPARATION OF THE WO D FOR THE MESSIAS 317
hours of prayer they , ., recited long prayers
, - · =' ..
., ...
.. t·
their foreheads or arms larger phylae- ·· teries than the other . Jews. These phylac­ teries were bands of parchment contain­
ing sacred texts. In
many cases they were
wicked men who kept
the law only because A PHARISEE W RING PHYLACTERIES
it made them appear holy in the eyes of the people. T
Opposed to the Pharisees were the Sadducees. They Sad­ denied many of the teachings of the Scriptures. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body or in
the life in the world to come. The Sadducees ridi­ culed the Pharisees for their strictness in keeping the
law. Most of them belonged to the wealthy classes and imitated the fashions of Greece and Rome. Some of them were courtiers of Herod the Great and, in contempt, were called He odians.
The high priest sometimes belonged to the party of the Sadducees, as did most of the members of the Sanhedrin. They were worldly men and follo,ved the external observances of the law only because they feared the people.
The Essenes were another sect that had grown up T after the Jews returned from captivity. They lived apart from the people in communities very much like
m pubhc and wore on